Friday, September 25, 2015

J.Crew Wants to Thank You With $25

"Thanks!" to many of you, who shared the following email & promotion.J.Crew is offering in store shoppers a $25 gift card for any purchase of $125+. This offer expires September 27, 2015. The fine print includes:

*Offer valid on purchases of $125 or more, before taxes are added and after any applicable discounts, made in J.Crew stores from September 24, 2015, through September 27, 2015, while supplies last. Gift card subject to terms and conditions printed on the card. Offer not valid in J.Crew Factory or J.Crew Mercantile stores; at jcrew.com or jcrewfactory.com; or on phone orders. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases or the purchase of gift cards and cannot be redeemed for cash. Offer automatically redeemed at register. Offer valid in the U.S. only. Terms of offer are subject to change.

This is a great offer to get shoppers to come into brick & mortar locations.

What I wish from JCrew is to stop those phony promos, along with those sale games, reducing and increasing prices back and forth without any logic to it. Price your merch adequately to its quality and demand for it, and stop that other nonsense.

This is OT. I also posted this in the "Looking to Vent" column from earlier this week and the discussion thread on the Canadian website changes but am also re-posting here for Canadian JCA's who are interested in this topic:

I just got off the phone with a Sales Associate at one of the Vancouver stores. It was a very discouraging discussion. I was looking to see whether the store had a particular item in stock. I was told that it was not available in store but could be ordered online. I then mentioned that I was reluctant to order anything on line now that there was a switch to Border free. I told her i was disappointed that there was such a difference in prices from in store to on line. She then said that the in store prices would soon be adjusted to match the on line prices. So we can now look forward to increased prices in stores too. I told her I thought that was a mistake as the on line prices were already too inflated and are not justified in many cases based on the quality of the item. The only good thing that came out of my call with her is that now apparently if you order something online you can now return it to a Brick and Mortar store. If the in store prices do increase to match the new Border free pricing, to my mind, that is nothing but a price grab by Jcrew given that the in store pricing does not involve the third party service provided by Borderfree. In other words, they really have no excuse for the in store price increases.

They hit rock bottom and just keep on digging. I actually had a CS assure me the other night that all of these changes are to make things better for Canadian shoppers! Surely they can't be serious. Thanks for the heads up, Shima Maceo.

Being the skeptic, I called one of the other Jcrew stores and was told we will NOT be able to return on line orders in store and that the sales associate at the other store was probably new and did not understand how on line returns work. I was told that you could take your on line return in store and they would "help" with the return, which basically amounts to them printing of a return shipping label for you (if you misplace the one provided with your order). I then got in a long discussion about the price differences. I was told the same information that injanuity sets out - that in store prices will increase and on line prices will decrease so as to "meet in the middle". I was told that the prices are going to reflect the exchange rate and the current Canadian economy (whatever that means). She said that the prices should be about 30% more than US prices. We shall see.

Re: returning online purchases in store - you can definitely do that now and I have done it a few times already. They had to print me a receipt from their printer rather than cash register but they are def taking returns. That is the only positive thing about the Borderfree switch. Re: the giftcard promo from this thread, it's another disappointment that they aren't doing this promo in Canadian stores.

@Shima I talked to a CSA at the Eaton Centre store and she too confirmed that we will be able to return online merch to the store. I too discovered the hard way that the online crazy prices are now store prices. To make matters even worse, all the stuff we get up here are the boring basic stuff. They don't send any of the cooler pieces up here. Yup the love is gone!

I have also returned online purchases at a B&M. Slow process, but it does work and saves me from shipping the item(s) back.

I contacted Borderfree to ask about the exchange rate used for JCrew and Madewell items shipped to Canada and they told me that they use a "trusted source" and get "competitive rates." I laughed at loud at that response. They can't seriously think that charging us 1.39 CDN is competitive when banks charge 1.36. No word about the cost of doing business, which were the lines fed to me by Madewell CS. I really feel like I am getting the runaround from all parties, with no one giving me clear answers. So frustrating and insulting!

I also heard that the changes were for our benefit and that Canadians wanted to pay in their own currency. Sure, maybe some want that, but I doubt they wanted to get fleeced by the higher costs.

Wow! I can't believe the different information on returning online purchases to stores. The SA I spoke with the second time was adamant. At this point I feel like Jcrew just doesn't want my money. This is a study in how not to run a business.

When the prices go up in November, a lot of us (myself included) will just stop shopping at J Crew altogether. The prices were never equivalent to the US ones, even when our dollar was on par, so to increase them to match the Borderfree insanity is just, well, insane. I can buy plaid shirts at a lot of different places, thanks. Remember Target's ignominious exit?

Comments from other women....when I mention J Crew (Canada) is " oh I went in there once...its really expensive" I started shopping J Crew when it was only in the US and our Can. $ was better. J Crew IMO is going to do poorly in our market if they raise prices even more. Its too bad...

I live about an hour from the US border. Once this price thing starts in Canadian stores, I will probably start going over once in a while where I can pay a proper exchange rate via my credit card company, not pay a shipping fee and will get to see, in real life, more variety (ie more stylish) selection than Canadian JCrew shops. I will ignore Canadian stores and stop online orders altogether. Since I won't be hopping over to the US frequently, it means this once loyal Jcrew shopper will be giving them a lot less money. I won't be making a trip just for a visit to J.crew either.I know the current bad exchange rate is a shock to the system but they are definitely screwing us over... I saw the ribbed boatneck sweater in Toronto stores for about 20% less on the regular price tag than the regular price online. I bought one colour but they had run out of my size in store in black, so I went online to order it and saw the big difference, then emailed them about the price discrepancy and asked them to honour the canadian store price tag price so I can order my size online, and also asked what was going on. It took them four days to respond, despite repeated prods from me, the sweater went out of stock, and when they finally answered, they treated me like I was stupid, saying there should be no discrepancy and if I can send them proof of it, they would honour the price and speak to the store in question. They said twice there is no reason why there should be a discrepancy. Please. The Canadian business is heading to failure. They are testing out loyalty past the point of reason.

The other joke about selection is that I would have to leave a cosmopolitan Canadian city of 3.5M people and travel over the border to a US border town of less than 500K to see a Jcrew store that has more stock and variety and even a crewcuts. What are they thinking? The Canadian selection is a total joke.

Perhaps the Borderfree issue needs its own post (if you have time, Alexis), because we all know JC reads here and maybe they need to see all the feedback in one place to really understand the negative impact to their Canadian customers. I'm sorry to hear this is happening to you all, what a frustrating ripoff!

Maybe one of us in the U.S. can start a small business purchasing and shipping stuff for Canadian JCA's for a small and reasonable profit. Just an entrepreneurship idea from a capitalist based on the demand. I already have a full time job plus a little side business, so I will toss this idea out there for anyone who is enterprising.

This whole differences in prices between the US and Canada is so disheartening. A very loyal group who regularly spends some serious money on a product simply want a fair price. We understand that the low Canadian dollar means we must pay slightly more for a product; but what is happening is ridiculous.

Normally someone buys me a drink before they try to screw me. Come on J.Crew time to play fair!

When they made the switch to Borderfree, I figured that was the end of the line for me, I will never order another thing online from J. Crew to ship to Canada. A few years back, I ordered something from Nordstrom and they used Borderfree - the cost of shipping and brokerage nearly doubled the final amount that I had to pay. Never again!!

Now that Jcrew has been spending so much time breaking into other international markets etc etc, I think they don't care about what borderfree does to the canadian business. They know that overall borderfree will increase their sales with or without the canadian consumer.

Another promo, really!! I have still not found anything to purchase with my 20% off coupon for my new J Crew card and my $25 off for my birthday. They both require a minimum purchase amount which I can't meet.

...and what's annoying, that 20% coupon i tried using, it excluded most of the Collection items. What's the point of issuing it to cardmembers?! That should be part of the perk of getting those 20% off coupon is that you should be able to purchase ANYTHING....

JSR, that strange, because my code works on anything, did a mock check out a few times :) - 3rd party (Mason, Saint James), Collection items, even new arrivals from Collection. Unlike the additional % off, where you see an adjusted price directly under the price for each item, the 20% shows up on the right side, under the Subtotal and above Estimated Shipping, it says "20% off your purchase of $125+ and the gives the amount in parenthesis. You have to start the check out process first - to use the JC cc, though.

I think we have until the end of the month to use it, still considering on items that never go on sale, even during brief tech glitches :)

I did venture into one of my local stores, was in the mall. They did have 3 pairs black & white gingham, Dulci kitten heels, size 6, 7 and 8 1/2. I know rynetta did a review and they looked great. 6 is my size but I realized where would I really wear them. $149 with 30% off. Cherry Creek, Co store. I think J Crew is starting to look up a little but nothing I needed to have. I did look at the Peyton satchel, I liked it and think a great price but I am on search for a burgundy bag this year.

Totally OT but I wanted to share a review of the Factory Gold Floral Jacquard Dress (e1395 which is a factory reissue of last year's Collection Daisy Jacquard Dress (a9979).

I never had a chance to try on the original as it sold out quickly, though weirdly I do see that there's a size 6 popback of the collection version as I write this! From what I can tell the main difference besides going all poly rather than poly/silk is that the Factory version is a little shorter -- I'm 5'8" and it hits about 1/2 and inch above my knee. Otherwise it's quite flattering, the slightly dropped waist helps my short torso look longer and the skirt has the right amount of pouf for me, not too voluminous. The dress is fully lined which is so nice since the outer material is a little scratchy. The bodice does compress my chest (32DD) a bit, but that's not an awful thing.

In terms of sizing I went with my usual size 6 and it feels great. I am 34-29-38 for reference.

You have a really good eye to have noticed that! I know what you mean about dresses compressing your chest, that's why I can't fit into JC dresses. What if you bought the size up and just tailored it? I really like the dress, it's cool that it's navy and I like the subtle shine of the material. Do you wear something under it or over it? I saw JCF re-issue something also, the olive amber multi material was used for regular JC last year for shoes, the regent blazer and a zip pencil skirt and this year JCF is using it for something but I can't remember what, maybe a skirt.

You have a really good eye to have noticed that! I know what you mean about dresses compressing your chest, that's why I can't fit into JC dresses. What if you bought the size up and just tailored it? I really like the dress, it's cool that it's navy and I like the subtle shine of the material. Do you wear something under it or over it? I saw JCF re-issue something also, the olive amber multi material was used for regular JC last year for shoes, the regent blazer and a zip pencil skirt and this year JCF is using it for something but I can't remember what, maybe a skirt.

The problem with this promo is that the stores (near me, anyway) continue to only carry certain kinds of items. I will never see most handbags, most shoes, most coats, or any collection items unless I order them online. The store is carrying the stuff I already own too much of, and I'm over the buy/return cycle so I'm reluctant to place orders too often. And even if I did, this promo would not apply.

I never really buy the items the stores carry, either. I tend to like the collection items, or the unique shoes. All of my favorite items tend to come from online. The stores carry the same sweaters, button ups and Blazers every single season. The store feels monotonous, while I can usually find cool stuff online. I just return a lot to the stores!

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